INDEPENDENCE TWP. >> If there were any question about whether Kings of Leon were “Dusty,” as the title of one of the band’s old songs suggests, the Nashville quartet smashed the notion Friday night, Aug. 1, at the DTE Energy Music Theatre.

In only the second show of a new leg of the group’s Ride The Bull Tour, frontman Caleb Followill and his three bandmates ripped through a 24-song set at the 23rd 89X Birthday Bash, fortified by a laser light show, an intricately produced backdrop and pyrotechnics. Fans stood excited from the start as the Kings — comprising a quartet of brothers and a cousin — gave a tight performance peppered with nostalgia.

The night was full of crescendos and poignant lulls, and Followill, who experienced a crisis in 2011 after fumbling through a show in Dallas, seemed rejuvenated and at home in Detroit, noting the crowd at a show the day before in Missouri was only half as large. With drummer Nathan Followill sporting an orange Detroit Tigers T-shirt, the frontman reminisced about one of the band’s first shows in Detroit, sharing that a man in the audience heckled him and turned out to be the lead singer of the next band that came on.

But Followill was content with the DTE crowd on Friday, smiling and saying, “It makes me pleased that Detroit loves us,” before kicking off a new song, “Comeback Story.” Followill also announced that while the setlist said Clarkston, “I’m gonna call you guys Detroit,” before playing “Rock City” from the band’s most recent album, “Mechanical Bull.”

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In the pavillion near the stage, some fans sat on friends’ shoulders, while on the lawn and throughout, the crowd sang along while Followill occasionally stopped to let them take a chorus. A heavy dose of new songs was aptly weaved between offerings from each of the band’s six albums, with “Mechanical Bull” tracks “Supersoaker,” “Temple,” “Don’t Matter,” “Beautiful War” and more dotting the list.

The four musicians, who have morphed their sound from backwoods blues-rock into a more intricate pop arrangement since their beginnings in the early 2000s, also played several well-known songs such as “Bucket” from the “Aha Shake Heartbreak” album, “Molly’s Chambers” off 2003’s “Youth and Young Manhood” and “Sex on Fire,” which closed out the night.

But KoL didn’t skimp on B-sides, either. That was not more evident than when the lead Followill asked the audience to break out cell phones and raise them during the lesser-known “Cold Desert,” or when he apologized before playing “Dusty,” as the Kings hadn’t played it in over 10 years — and “there’s a good chance we’re going to f--- it up.”

They didn’t.

And although lead guitar player Matthew Followill picked a portion of “Only by the Night” track “Closer” with his teeth, showmanship was largely at a minimum during the KoL set, which included technical solos, little extended jamming and almost no mistakes.

The mood of the night, it seemed, wasn’t just guided by the crowd’s high enthusiasm. The band’s backdrop also led the way, and in some cases the screen would feature a design depicting a song’s theme, as when animated flames lit the screen during “Come Around Sundown” single “Pyro.”

Another group of brothers, Kongos, opened the night to a decidedly thinner crowd, playing bouncy, danceable singles such as “I’m Only Joking,” and “Sex on the Radio.” The quartet signed in January with Epic Records in the U.S. after becoming a hit in their native South Africa, two years after releasing their first record.

Irvine, Calif., indie rock band Young The Giant, also touring with the KoL, preceded the headliner’s lead and promoted a new album, “Mind Over Matter” heavily in its set list between the two bands. Performing the title track and others — but also fan favorites such as “Guns Out” and platinum-selling single “Cough Syrup” from the band’s 2010 self-titled album in a spirited, 50-minute set — the band’s unique sound energized a growing crowd trickling in for the main event.

Connections to the Detroit area seemed to be the theme of the night for YTG as well, as lead singer Sameer Gadhia told fans that although the band is from the West Coast, he was born in Ann Arbor.